Location - St Mary’s, Leicester

Client - Countryside/Midland Heart

Our Role - Architect, Landscape Architecture

Project Value - £18m

A former allotment site on the edge of the city, St Mary’s has created 125 mixed tenure homes and apartments. The design forms a two-storey curving boulevard as a backdrop to a new public park and takes its cues from the neighbouring, Grade II listed Edwardian terrace of gas workers cottages.

Three principal character areas were established; Park Edge, which creates a strong frontage with continuous blocks of detached and semi-detached properties; Old Saffron Way, which features two storey homes shallower in depth; and Main Street, a circular route through the development where the apartment buildings are located. Materials are largely traditional, with rendering and timber cladding adding detail. St Mary’s includes significant sustainable drainage in the form of cascading swales.